In large, introductory courses, student learning is typically assessed with machine-scored multiple choice tests. This approach works well when the course is a new one or the instructor teaches part-time. Other busy faculty are persuaded to adopt the approach by the helpful test item bank that comes with the text. But students still see these tests as overly abstract, anxiety-provoking, and contrived. Based on our experience, we think that there are better ways to assess learning.